
Sean Penn
Acting
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. His accolades include three Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for three British Academy Film Awards, an Emmy Award, and a Grammy Award. He received the Honorary César in 2015 and the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2022. Penn made his feature film debut in the drama Taps (1981), before taking roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Bad Boys (1983), and At Close Range (1986). He has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice, for playing a grieving father in Mystic River (2003) and the gay rights activist Harvey Milk in Milk (2008). He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing the ruthless military officer Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw in One Battle After Another (2025). He was Oscar-nominated for Dead Man Walking (1995), Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and I Am Sam (2001). He also acted in Casualties of War (1989), State of Grace (1990), Carlito's Way (1993), The Game(1997), The Thin Red Line (1998), Hurlyburly (1998), 21 Grams (2003), Fair Game (2010), The Tree of Life (2011), Licorice Pizza (2021) and Daddio (2023). Penn made his directorial film debut with the crime drama The Indian Runner (1991), followed by The Crossing Guard (1995), The Pledge (2001), and Into the Wild (2007). On stage, he acted in the Broadway plays Heartland (1981) and Slab Boys (1983). On television, he portrayed an astronaut in the Hulu drama series The First (2018) and John N. Mitchell in the Starz political thriller miniseries Gaslit (2022). Penn has also engaged in political and social activism, including his criticism of the George W. Bush administration, his contact with the presidents of Cuba and Venezuela, his humanitarian work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and his support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amidst the Russian-Ukrainian war. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sean Penn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
TV Shows(34)
Variety & CNN Actors on Actors
Self
2025

aka Charlie Sheen
Self
2025

Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
Self - Actor and Founder of CORE
2025

Gaslit
John Mitchell
2022

Lights Out with David Spade
Self
2019

The First
Tom Haggerty
2018

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
2018

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self
2015

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest
2014

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
Self
2008

Brando: The Documentary
Self
2007

The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
Self
2006

VH1 Rock Honors
2006

Iconoclasts
Self
2005

The Reichen Show
Self
2005

Viva La Bam
2003

Two and a Half Men
Sean Penn
2003

Celebrities Uncensored
Self
2003

Real Time with Bill Maher
Self
2003

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Sean Penn
2000

The Early Show
Self
1999
Where Are They Now?
Self
1999

Family Guy
Sean Penn (voice)
1999

The View
Self
1997

Friends
Eric
1994

Inside the Actors Studio
Self
1994

The Larry Sanders Show
Sean Penn
1992

Saturday Night Live
Self - Host
1975

Little House on the Prairie
Boy (uncredited)
1974
aspekte
Self
1965

The Oscars
Self
1953

Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
Movies(108)

Animals in War
2025

In Thanks We Trust
Self
2025

One Battle After Another
Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
2025

Becoming Madonna
Self (archive footage)
2024

Bruce Springsteen – The America whisperer
Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
2024

Daddio
Clark
2024

BRATS
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2024

Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique
Self
2024

Asphalt City
Gene Rutkovsky
2024
Gonzo Girl
2023

Superpower
Self
2023

Licorice Pizza
Jack Holden
2021

Flag Day
John Vogel
2021

Citizen Penn
Himself
2020

Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read
Pizza Guy
2020

The Professor and the Madman
Dr. William Chester Minor
2019

Sound of Sun
Man
2017
Mad Hannans
2017

The Angry Birds Movie
Terence (voice)
2016

El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle
Self
2016

The Human Experiment
Narrator
2015

The Gunman
Jim Terrier
2015

Sweet Micky for President
Self
2015

Beaver Trilogy Part IV
Himself (archive footage)
2015

Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story
Himself
2014

Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
Self
2014

The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles
Self
2014

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Sean O'Connell
2013

Gangster Squad
Mickey Cohen
2013

Americans
Commie
2012

Haiti Untold
2012

Woody Allen: A Documentary
Self
2011

This Must Be the Place
Cheyenne
2011

The Tree of Life
Jack
2011

Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
Self
2011

I'm Still Here
Sean Penn (uncredited)
2010

Fair Game
Joseph Wilson
2010

The People Speak
Self
2009

Deflating the Elephant
Narrator
2009

Milk
Harvey Milk
2008

What Just Happened
Sean Penn
2008

Witch Hunt
Himself (Narrator)
2008

VH1 Rock Honors: The Who
Self
2008

War Made Easy
Narrator (Voice)
2007

Brando
Self
2007

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride
Self
2006

All the King's Men
Willie Stark
2006

The Interpreter
Tobin Keller
2005

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
Self
2004

Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
Self(archive footage) (uncredited)
2004
Mystic River: Beneath the Surface
Self
2004

The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Samuel Bicke
2004

Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
Self
2004

21 Grams: In Fragments
Self
2004
Mystic River: From Page to Screen
Self
2003

Mystic River
Jimmy Markum
2003

21 Grams
Paul Rivers
2003

Inside Björk
Self
2003

Pauly Shore Is Dead
Sean Penn
2003

Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
Self
2003

Bukowski: Born Into This
Self
2003

It's All About Love
Marciello
2003

This So-Called Disaster
Ray
2003

Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
Self
2002

Searching for Debra Winger
Self (uncredited)
2002

Dogtown and Z-Boys
Narrator
2002

I Am Sam
Sam Dawson
2001

The Weight of Water
Thomas Janes
2001

A Constant Forge
Self
2000

Before Night Falls
Cuco Sanchez
2000

Beaver Trilogy
"Groovin' Larry" Huff
2000

Up at the Villa
Rowley Flint
2000

Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1999

Sweet and Lowdown
Emmet Ray
1999

Being John Malkovich
Sean Penn (uncredited)
1999

Hurlyburly
Eddie
1998

The Thin Red Line
1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
1998

Hugo Pool
Strange Hitchhiker
1997

Loved
Man on the Hill (Michael)
1997

U Turn
Bobby Cooper
1997

The Game
Conrad Van Orton
1997

She's So Lovely
Eddie Quinn
1997

Dead Man Walking
Matthew Poncelet
1995

Carlito's Way
David Kleinfeld
1993

The Last Party
Self
1993

Madonna: The Name of the Game
Self
1993

Cruise Control
1992

State of Grace
Terry
1990

Cool Blue
Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
1990

Casualties of War
Sgt. Tony Meserve
1989

We're No Angels
Jim
1989

Judgment in Berlin
Guenther X
1988

Colors
Danny McGavin
1988

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
(voice)
1987

Shanghai Surprise
Glendon Wasey
1986

At Close Range
Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
1986

The Falcon and the Snowman
Daulton Lee
1985

Racing with the Moon
Henry 'Hopper' Nash
1984

Crackers
Dillard
1984

Risky Business
Passenger in Car (uncredited)
1983

Summerspell
Buddy
1983

Bad Boys
Mick O'Brien
1983

Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Jeff Spicoli
1982

Taps
Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
1981
The Beaver Kid 2
Groovin' Larry
1981

The Killing of Randy Webster
Don Fremont
1981

Hellinger's Law
Bit Part (uncredited)
1981
Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame
Himself